Brewer: Ariz. law's 'heart' upheld

Celebrating the Supreme Court’s ruling on her state’s tough immigration law, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer on Monday boasted that the “heart” of SB 1070 had been “vindicated,” as she also blasted President Barack Obama’s “failed” immigration policy.

“Today is the day when the key components of our efforts to protect the citizens of Arizona, to take up the fight against illegal immigration in a balanced and constitutional way, has unanimously been vindicated by the highest court in the land,” the Republican governor said in a brief press conference. “The heart of Senate Bill 1070 has been proven to be constitutional. Arizona’s and every other state’s inherent authority to protect and defend its people has been upheld.”

Story Continued Below

Brewer’s remarks came hours after the Supreme Court announced its decision to uphold one of the key provisions of the state’s immigration law, allowing police officers to check the immigration status of any individual who has been stopped for questioning if there is reason to believe that the person is in the country illegally. Three other provisions of the law were struck down.

In her remarks, Brewer hit Obama and his administration for failing to design a comprehensive immigration policy that tackles illegal immigration head-on.

“We cannot forget that we are here today because the federal government has failed the American people regarding immigration policy, has failed to protect its citizens, has failed to preserve the rule of law and has failed to secure our borders,” she said. “The failure to secure the border has created issues we now face regarding illegal immigration, and Arizona without question bears the brunt of that failure.”

The governor, who has come under intense fire since signing the controversial bill into law in 2010, added, “We also cannot forget that President Obama and his party had both houses in Congress for two years and could have secured our borders and fulfilled the promise to fix our broken immigration system. They failed.”

In an earlier statement reacting to the court’s ruling, Brewer had hailed the highly anticipated decision as a “victory for the rule of law” and a “legal victory” for her state.

During the press conference, Brewer repeated that she would not tolerate law enforcement officials who engaged in racial profiling — a concern of critics of the “show me your papers” provision.

“We know the eyes of the world will be upon us, we know the critics will be watching and waiting, hoping for another opportunity to continue their legal assault against our state,” Brewer said. “Civil rights will be protected. Racial profiling will not be tolerated. Senate Bill 1070 is equally committed to upholding the rule of law.”